Mirette Magdy

Gulf Arab states are set to urge U.S. President Donald Trump to avoid any escalation of hostilities with Iran at a meeting on Tuesday, according to several people familiar with the matter.

Gulf Arab states are set to urge U.S. President Donald Trump to avoid any escalation of hostilities with Iran at a meeting on Tuesday, according to several people familiar with the matter.

Saudi Arabia increased its projected budget deficit for the year as it steps up spending to mitigate the fallout from the ongoing regional war and progress its economic diversification.

Egypt said it’s ready to offer any kind of support to Saudi Arabia in its fight with Houthi militants in Yemen, as the conflict spills further into the kingdom with recent strikes on its airports.

Saudi Arabia’s fiscal buffers and backup oil-export facilities are helping curb the damage to the Middle East’s largest economy from the Iran war, according to the International Monetary Fund.

The International Monetary Fund will start talks for the final review of Egypt’s $8 billion loan program after this month’s annual meetings and aims to sign off by December, a top official said.

Lebanon’s central bank this week revoked the local license of Bank Saderat, one of Iran’s biggest lenders, as the US raises pressure on nations to cut commercial ties with the Islamic Republic.

Lebanon’s central banker expects a breakthrough by the end of the year in International Monetary Fund talks on a controversial law stipulating how to repay depositors whose savings were caught up in the country’s financial collapse.

The head of the IMF said that Iraq has approached the Washington-based lender for a new program, a request she said the fund intends to support.

Saudi Arabia’s oil industry managed to ride out concerns in the early days of the Iran war and keep exports flowing. Now, with the Houthis staging deadly attacks on the kingdom and signs of disruption stacking up, the worry has shifted to the rest of the economy.